


Pail Romance

by LadyMurasaki



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Community: homesmut, M/M, Xeno, dub-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-01
Updated: 2013-02-08
Packaged: 2017-11-23 05:28:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/618610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMurasaki/pseuds/LadyMurasaki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fill for a homesmut request:<br/>[paraphrased] "Karkat, because of the trolls’ long time on the meteor, ends up getting so full of genetic material that he can’t even function. He is reduced to asking Sollux if he has a bucket he can borrow (genetic material would stain the ablution trap, maybe, so he can’t do it there) since they’re friends and Sollux, being lowblooded as well, is in that stage of his life too so would be the most likely to have a bucket. He /could/ ask Tavros, but he’s not sure how well that part of him works anyway, and Sollux at least will just tease him in private and not accidentally say something about it to anyone else. And Aradia's, y'know, a robot."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As always, critiques of all varieties are much appreciated. <3  
> (You don't even want to know how close I came to naming this "Teach me How to Jerk")

Karkat pounded on the alchemizer in frustration, snarling at the screen as if that would make what he wanted appear. He’d scanned the entire file of codes that Sollux has compiled, he’d tried what felt like a hundred combinations of things, and he _couldn’t come up with a fucking bucket._

There came a point in every troll’s life where their bodies decided _ok, pailing practice time is over now, fucker_ and started producing copious enough amounts of genetic material to hopefully fill a couple pails and make a meaningful contribution to society. Trolls unfortunate enough to not have any concupiscent partners when this time came around were left to either hide away and shamefully fondle themselves to release some subpar grubsauce, or contend with a slowly filling genetic material sac until they managed to wrangle someone into a concupiscent quadrant. 

And just in case a troll got any funny ideas about slacking on their quadrants, a full genetic material sac was possibly one of the worst sensations in the universe. He wasn’t full enough to know this from experience, but the aching, twinging, tensed muscles in his abdomen and nook and the swollen sensation in his bulge was just miserable enough that he was sure he’d want to just curl up and die, given enough time. And because the entire ordeal wasn’t embarrassing enough, all the pressure was just enough to feel _good_ and _fuck_ would it be nice to just curl up in a block and get himself off, but he’d have to have somewhere to _go_ with the material and he’d have to cut down his claws to keep from clawing up unmentionable areas and then everyone would _know_ and-- _aaargh._

Karkat was unfortunate enough to be stuck on a meteor at that time with the only remaining trolls in the world, not a single one of which would deign to touch his bulge, he was sure. Well, there was Eridan, maybe. And Nepeta had that flush crush he’d been dancing around. But even if he could manage to get one of them to the bucket _Which is not happening, I wouldn’t want that taintchafing douche anywhere near my bulge if he were the last troll alive, and Equius would flay me alive if I led his precious catgirl along like that_ , there was the matter of his disgusting mutant blood, and just because he thought _maybe_ some of them might’ve figured it out didn’t mean they had for sure. Point is, he was not about to go announcing it; the entirety of trollkind did not need to know his every shame, _thank you very fucking much._

It was a well known, though unspoken of, fact that Sollux had a second list of codes for some of the more… _unspeakable_ items. The problem was how to get the code without embarrassing himself into an early burial box. He could hack if off the yellowblood’s computer _fuck you I am not that terrible at hacking_ but a twinge of the borderline painful _fullness_ of his lower abdomen reminded him he didn’t really have the time to screw around with the psionic’s security system _oh who the fuck am I kidding I’d never manage to hack him anyway._

Karkat grit his teeth; all he could do was ask to see the list and hope that Sollux was in a favorable mood. Yellow was low enough on the spectrum, maybe he’d even sympathize with his plight enough to— _no no hell fucking no don’t start thinking like that, you’re not some desperate pailslut, that lispy asshole wouldn’t know pity if it crawled up his waste chute and set up a pity complex in his digestive system and invited all of its pity pals_

Bringing out his personal communication device, the mutantblood scanned the list of codes once more as if the desired item would magically appear. He was hardly surprised when it didn’t. With a heavy sigh, he brought up Trollian.

carcinoGeneticist [CG]  began trolling twinArmageddons [TA] 

_What the fuck do I even say? ‘Hey I need a bucket mind sharing the code?’ That nookwhiffer would never let me live it down_ With the realization that his well-thought-out plan was not quite so well-thought-out, Karkat was left staring at the blank chat window, fingers hovering over the keys.

TA: KK?    
CG: HEY   
TA: do you need 2omethiing or what? Ii’m kiinda bu2y   
CG: THEN SEND ME THE CODES FOR THE ALCHEMIZER AND YOU CAN JUST GET RIGHT BACK TO STUFFING YOUR NOOK OR WHATEVER ELSE IT IS YOU DO LOCKED UP IN YOUR BLOCK ALL THE FUCKING TIME.    
TA: iit’2 on the network where iit2 always been, iidiiot.    
CG: NO THE OTHER LIST.    
TA: …   
TA: the other lii2t.   
CG: DON’T GIVE ME THAT HOOFBEAST SHIT YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT. JUST SEND ME THE FUCKING CODES AND WE CAN BOTH BE ON OUR MERRY WAYS AND FORGET THAT WE EVER HAD THIS CONVERSATION.    
TA: ju2t tell me what code you want you know iit’d just be a paiin to send the entiire thiing.    
CG: HA   
CG: HA   
CG: FUCKING   
CG: HA   
CG: NICE TRY, BULGELICKER, YOU REALLY THINK I’D JUST TELL YOU? YOU AND I BOTH KNOW WHAT’S ALL ON THAT LIST AND THERE IS NO FUCKING WAY IN THIS, OR ANY, TIMELINE THAT I WILL BE SO DESPERATE AS TO JUST SHOUT OUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT.   
TA: thii2 ii2 a priivate chat la2t ii checked   
CG: AS YOU’RE SO FUCKING PRONE TO CONSTANTLY RUB IN EVERYONE’S FACE, YOU ARE THE HACKER EXTRAORDINAIRE, THE FUCKING CROWN PRINCE OF ALL THINGS DIGITAL, AND I AM NOTHING BUT A LOWLY GRUBFISTED PEASANT ONLY ABLE TO DREAM OF ONE DAY BEING A THIRD AS GREAT AS YOU   
CG: BY WHICH I MEAN: FIGURE OUT HOW TO SEND THE FUCKING LIST, BULGEMUNCH   
TA: ehehehe well 2iince you a2ked 2o niicely   
TA: nope   
twinArmageddons [TA]  ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]    
CG: GET BACK HERE YOU LAZY GRUB OF A FEMALE WOOFBEAST   
carcinoGeneticist [CG]  began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]    
CG: REMOVE YOUR GRASPING APPENDAGE FROM YOUR BULGE AND SEND THE FUCKING LIST TO ME ALREADY   
twinArmageddons [TA]  is now offline!    
CG: NO YOU ARE FUCKING NOT   
twinArmageddons [TA]  is now offline!    
CG: WHAT IS EVEN YOUR PROBLEM   
twinArmageddons [TA]  blocked carcinoGeneticist [CG]    
CG: FUCK

Karkat raked his claws through his hair and snarled at the device, barely resisting the urge to throw it at the nearest wall. Mentally, he went through his options again: continuing to fiddle with the alchemeter _might_ get results, but it would probably take forever and he didn’t _have_ forever; it was unlikely that most of the trolls on the asteroid would already have a bucket with the exception of Aradia (scratch that, dead robots don’t have to deal with this), Tavros (urgh…), Sollux, or _maybe_ Nepeta (yup, not going there). And it’s not like he wanted or cared to know if any of them had started producing; maybe none of them had and his _amazing_ mutant blood had done him yet another _favor_ of cycling early. The redblood groaned loudly, tapering off into a whine as his lower abdomen gave another twinge of discomfort. 

_Maybe I could just… use the ablution trap…_ he pondered that for only a moment before wincing, _and then spend a few perigrees scouring it of every disgusting spot and making sure it doesn’t_ smell _and…_

The only option was to wrench that code from Sollux’s spindly, assholish grasp.

_Fuck._

With one last, hopeful look at his communication device, he ascertained that, yup, that asshole was still “offline” before heading for the transportalizer block.


	2. Chapter 2

For once, Karkat had to be thankful for the humans ( _Not that I would tell them, of course; Strider does not need any help stroking his ego_ ) because were it not for them, the transportalizers would still be coded to accept only the troll that matched the sign floating above them. As it stood, the humans needed _somewhere_ to sleep and do whatever it was they did during the hours where any sane being _should_ be sleeping, so rules were laid down, a little alarm-buzzer button (the humans called it a _doorbell_ , for whatever pan rotted reason; that didn’t even make _sense_ ) was installed on each pad, and the transportalizers were unlocked. Normally, the trolls really had no reason to use eachother’s pads (excepting quadrantmates), and the humans had each scoped out a room or two that they kept to when they weren’t haunting the communal areas, so there hadn’t been any troubles on that end, thankfully. Karkat had envisioned the removal of the locks leading to invasions of privacy that lead to blood splattered on the walls; he liked to tell himself that it was only a matter of time, and at least he’d be _prepared_ for the event.

All this thinking was really just delaying the inevitable though. The mutantblood stared at the floating yellow Gemini symbol. _Some trolls are more territorial than others._ The thought came unbidden, a half-remembered line from his schoolfeeding, and he winced, because if it was _Sollux_ strutting into his quarters the psionic would be on the receiving end of a particularly angry tirade and a sickle to the throat at the very least; he had no idea how the yellowblood would be.

Another transportalizer (Terezi’s, he figured out after a glance) flashed and out strolled the red-clad human, humming to himself. Karkat glared at him and stepped quickly onto the platform before him. _There is no way I’m dealing with that globefondling pink moron right now._

When he rematerialized in the area annexed off as the yellowblood’s personal space, he had to take a moment to breathe deeply and clutch at his stomach; there was no way he’d ever get used to the sensation of being taken apart, thrown across the meteor, and then put back together. Topped off with the new addition of spasming abdominal muscles that also didn’t not appreciate the move, he briefly wondered how long it’d take him to find his way to his own corner of the meteor by foot. 

Fortunately, Sollux was nowhere around to witness the sight. Unfortunately, that meant he’d have to go looking for him.

A low crackling was the only warning he got before the mutantblood found himself slammed up against a wall, red and blue psionics sparking all across his skin as he was kept pinned there. An (embarrassing) keen started up in his throat when the sudden, violent movement set his internal organs to shifting and his bloated genetic material sac pressed on some bundle of nerves he couldn’t spare the brain power to remember the name of at the moment; he barely managed to quash the noise and cover it up with a growl as it stood. 

Sollux was leaning in a doorway now, arms crossed as he stared down the intruder, “What the fuck ith wrong with you?”

Karkat flashed his teeth, growling, “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH _YOU_? LET ME DOWN YOU SEEDFLAP LICKING ASSHOLE!” He’d barely gotten the words out of his mouth before the psionics dissipated, dropping him square on his rear end. Another jolt to system and he made a soft whimper, curling in on himself until he could get his nerves to _calm the fuck down_.

Footsteps approached, and when he peered up from under his bangs the Gemini was crouched down, looking confused. The expression quickly changed to annoyance when the Cancer growled at him.

“Thith ith about the thtupid code litht ithn’t it?” he visibly winced at his own lisping but barreled on, “What do you need _tho_ badly that you’ve gotta come thtorming in here?”

The mutantblood was at his wit’s end; he was just _sore_ and _tired_ and feeling things he did _not_ want to be feeling right now. Lifting his chin defiantly and looking his friend square in the eye, _daring_ him to laugh, he snapped out, “I JUST WANT THE CODE FOR A FUCKING B-BUCKET ALL RIGHT YOU LISPY ASSHOLE?” He was proud of the fact that he’d barely even stuttered. 

Sollux’s expression didn’t change. For the space of a heartbeat, there was simply no reaction. And then his expression slipped into a cocky smirk and he shifted almost imperceptibly closer, “Oh? And I guethh you’ll be needing help with your problem, too?”

Karkat’s face flared with heat and he scooted further away, “I CAN DEAL WITH IT MYSELF, FUCKASS!”

The psionic snickered and Karkat flashed his fangs in a snarl. Sollux sat back on his heels, an eyebrow cocked, “Why not athk nicely for once, KK?”

Gritting his teeth, the shorter troll ground out, “ _PLEASE_ GIVE ME THE CODE, _THOLLUX_.”

The redblood found himself pressed to the wall again. Though it was by Sollux’s comparatively weaker body rather than his psionics, the action was no less offputting. Especially with those alarmingly large teeth flashing right in front of his face. The hacker was all sharp angles and some small, detached part of his mind wanted to go off and find a sandwich to shove down the yellowblood’s throat; a much more attached, but less controlled, part of his mind provided an entirely different suggestion to shove down that throat. Karkat groaned and tried to shove the other troll away until the psionic’s horns started sparking.

“WHAT THE SWEET TAINTCHAFING FUCK IS THE PROBLEM?” his hands stilled against the yellow Gemini symbol, his voice nearly a whine, “STOP…. STOP TAUNTING ME AND JUST TELL ME WHAT I HAVE TO DO TO GET THE FUCKING CODE OUT OF YOU ALREADY.”

“Thometimeth… you’re really pathetic, KK. You know that?” a hand caressed the side of the mutant’s quickly flushing face, a mouth gently covering his own to swallow the rant that was near instantaneously forgotten in shock. Karkat froze, unable to form a coherent response to the situation, and before he could piece together what was happening the yellowblood pulled back with a low snarl, his claws pricking at the redblood’s temple, “And thometimeth I just really _hate_ you, tho much.” Another kiss, less a pressing of lips and more a devouring, with claws ghosting the side of his face and teeth pricking his lip and _those fucking psionics_ making his hair stand on end. He managed to turn his head away, breaking the kiss, only to shiver as the other’s mouth ghosted over his ear, “Tell you what, KK. You’re tho dethperate for a bucket, let me give you a hand--“ to punctuate the point, a hand brushed near the redblood’s hipbone, following the curve of his pelvic bone in toward his groin. Karkat whimpered, body running both hot and cold at the same time with overstimulation and pure _want_ , and when the touch was a scant few inches from where his body wanted it-- the other troll pulled back, quickly and suddenly, leaving the smaller one disoriented and alone against the wall, clutching at the air in a delayed attempt to keep a warm body against himself. He scrambled to compose himself _fuck I don’t even want to think about how I must look_ , pressing his hands and back to the cold steel wall in hopes that it would help him cool down.

“Or, I could jutht kick your ath out of my block and you can figure thomething out for yourthelf. Up to you.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my apologies for the delay! I've been having issues with the network (and internet, by extension), and while this is still a thing that is a problem, I've got it stabilized and decided to post what I have.  
> (Next section will be up shortly, I'm just finishing it up.)

Panting lightly, Karkat scowled at the yellowblood. _Oh my fucking god why does he have to make this so difficult?! Nnnh it’s not like I’m not interested, I’ve thought of-- but fuck, he’ll see, he’ll know about my blood, he’ll--_ a low whine escaped his throat (one he would deny ever making later) _What the fuck other option do I even have. I’ll just-- I’ll make sure he doesn’t look… somehow. Fuck._

Lifting his head slightly, fingers nervously tensing against the wall, the mutantblood swallowed and managed to croak out a quiet, “JUST… JUST _HELP_ ME, YOU INSUFFERABLE PRICK.”

“I thought tho.” And then the small redblood was being floated along behind the psionic and into one of the blocks. He was only slightly more prepared this time when he was dropped into a pile of computer parts and blankets and managed to keep the small noise that wanted to bubble out of his throat at bay. It proved to be a moot point when the bony troll was on top of him in the next instant, crushing their mouths together and trailing slightly cold hands up under Karkat’s sweater. The smaller troll squirmed, hands convulsing against a blanket and what felt like a keyboard, opening his mouth in a tiny gasp when a claw ghosted over his grubscars. Sollux’s tongue invaded his mouth immediately, the split tips testing the sharpness of his teeth before moving on to stroke Vantas’ tongue into action. The redblood shyly attempted to return the gesture, sliding the muscle against the hacker’s and eliciting a shiver and a muffled chirp from the other. Karkat flushed red, returning the chirp despite himself as he released the keyboard to grab onto Sollux’s shirt. The psionic pulled back then, sitting back on the other troll’s thighs and pulling his shirt over his head to toss aside. Karkat had a few scarce minutes to take in the newly revealed grey skin before he was blinded by his own shirt being pulled over his head. He shifted, helping to get himself untangled from the item; Sollux pulled the fabric away from the smaller troll’s face and left his arms tangled in the sleeves, a hand keeping it there. 

Karkat’s eyes widened, struggling against the impromptu bounds instinctively, “SOLLUX WHAT--“

Another vicious kiss muffled his outburst, and he melted into it with a whimper, still jerking a little to free his wrists. Teeth closed on his lip, making him flinch, but the psionic pulled away without breaking skin and moved on, lips brushing the column of the mutantblood’s throat to settle on a collarbone. The gentle sensation made him shudder and breath a soft sigh; teeth on his flesh made him startle again, gasping, and the yellowblood hissed softly, grinding his hips down against the redblood’s thigh. Karkat’s claws buried in his own shirt reflexively, keening as his own twitched upward. Sollux groaned and the mutantblood felt claws ghosting across the skin just above his waistband, fingers slipping beneath, and the hacker sat up. The Cancer shivered at the loss of body heat and took the chance to free his hands; his eyes opened _when did I close them?_ to Sollux kneeling between his spread thighs, nimble fingers working at the clasp to his own jeans. The Gemini paused, sparing him a glance, then hooked his thumbs in the waistband and shed the denim and whatever lay beneath in one motion, shifting from knee to knee until the clothing was tossed aside. 

Those same fingers attacked the button on the redblood’s pants and Karkat scrambled backwards suddenly, evading the psionic in a sudden bout of panic, “WHOA WAIT FUCK JUST-- WAIT.” His back hit a wall, ass still firmly on the floor, and he stopped there, panting.

Red and blue eyes turned up to meet his gaze, eyebrows raised high above multi-colored lenses, “What the hell, KK?”

Karkat could feel his bulge squirming outside it’s sheathe, the muscles of his nook convulsing, and he wanted badly to just press himself against the Gemini and never stop; but his bulge was engorged with _redredred_ blood and his nook would be leaking the _horribledisgustingmutant_ color and _in what universe did I ever think this was a good idea, as always past Karkat is the worst bulgesucking grubfisted moron in all and every universe that ever did and will exist_

Sollux shifted closer sometime while Karkat was occupied with his inner monologue, and the mutantblood didn’t notice until a hand was on his face. He jerked back, catching a flash of bright red on the grey of Sollux’s fingers and let out a panicked cry, hand coming up to cover his bleeding lip. The psionic’s eyebrows drew together, contemplative, studying the blood as Karkat shrunk away, shaking with the fear of _he saw he knows don’t cull me I’m sorry please I don’t want to die._

“KK?” The yellowblood started to reach out with the bloodied hand, paused, then switched, opposite hand landing on the shorter troll’s shoulder, “Hey, KK, chill. Calm down, I’m not gonna hurt you.” A pause, and a tentative reassurance, “You know I don’t feed into that homethpectrum hoofbeatht thhit anyway.”

Karkat was shaking, glancing down at the hand on his leg; it almost instantaneously was removed. Gulping down a lungful of air, he looked back up at the other troll with a touch of suspicion, “…but I’m a mutant.”

Sollux shrugged, “Yeah. I got it. Guethh all that paranoia about your blood maketh thenthe. But we’re the latht twelve trollth in the univerthe, I don’t think it’th that big a deal anymore.” He tilted his head, a small frown on his face, “Now, if you’re done being a wiggler, we were in the middle of thomething…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, because I realized I never posted this note here:
> 
> For reference, [this](http://dexteri.deviantart.com/art/Tentabulge-266438019?q=gallery%3Adexteri%2F32490299&qo=31) is the headcanon I go by for what the trolls are packing. 
> 
> Also, the summarized version of my personal troll puberty headcanon (because Karkat isn't one for fancy, in depth descriptions):
> 
> Genetic Material is first produced and begins accumulating at a particular age, dependent on blood color (Lowbloods earlier than highbloods). A minimal amount of material can be released through the bulge, but most is released from the nook into a genetic material sac. In the event that a troll does not have a concupiscent partner (and does not self-stimulate in any way), material will still build up, though much slower.  
> The material accumulated in the sac is released by stimulation of the nook (more precisely, a spot on the inner wall of the nook) – something which is possible alone (if one clips their claws), but is something of a taboo and certainly not something one would talk about (trolls who clip their claws at all are often taunted, this being a common ‘insult’); generally this task is done by the troll’s concupiscent partner, post-intercourse. (Though there are those that enjoy the sensation of being ‘full’ and may choose to remain such for a time, it’s generally inadvisable to remain as such for longer than a day or two, dependent on physical size. Some kismesises will ‘inflict’ this on the ‘losing’ partner, or occasionally leave them full through a second session, but it’s not exactly a common practice due to 1) possibility of injury/pain that would extend outside a healthy kismesistude, 2) Attempts to ‘inflict’ this often have both partners left with a full sac, because really, if you’re gonna be a dick and not help your partner, why should they help you? ) 
> 
> (No seriously, I have just over two pages written up on this. This is mostly just the stuff that's pertinent to this story. Homestuck does strange things to my mind okay.)


	4. Chapter 4

“YOU DON’T CARE. JUST LIKE THAT.” Karkat’s mind was too busy running in little circles of disbelief to register anything else, up to and including the general lack of clothing involved in this impromptu and out-of-quadrant almost-feelings-jam, “JUST… NOTHING. I’M NOT EVEN ON THE SPECTRUM, I’M _BELOW_ THE SPECTRUM, LOWER THAN THE LOWEST RUSTBLOOD WALLOWING IN HIS OWN GUTTER FILTH, PROBABLY EVEN LOWER THAN THE FILTH HE’S ROLLING AROUND IN. I’M NOTHING, NO ONE, DISGUSTING, SCUM, FILTHBLOOD, I DIDN’T DESERVE TO CRAWL OUT OF THE MOTHER GRUB’S FESTERING ASSHOLE AND IT WAS A CRUEL JOKE THAT I EVEN FOUND MY WAY OUT OF THE CAVERNS—“ Every thought that he’d ever flung at himself in his worst of moods came tumbling out of his mouth. _What am I even doing, trying to convince him to be disgusted? What the fuck, just shut up, don’t look a gift hoofbeast in the mouth._

The yellowblood appeared unmoved. In fact, he didn’t even seem to be listening. He was advancing on hands and knees, settling over the mutantblood’s splayed legs, arms coming up to cage him against the wall. Karkat was still babbling, making less and less sense to even his own ears. 

Sollux stared placidly for a moment, before finally interrupting, “Would you jutht thut up.”

The Cancer’s tirade cut off sharply, and his expression formed itself into a scowl; he took a breathe to start anew, annoyed with how utterly _calm_ the asshole was being, but all that came out was a startled squeaky noise and a renewed flush to his face. Sollux directed a smug grin, rolling his hips forward again, and _oh my good fuck_.

“Done?” a tiny nod, “Ith thith thtill okay?” hesitation, a deeper blush, a ripple of pain in his abdomen reminding him that he still needed release and a hodge-podge of _feelings_ and _hormones_ he didn’t have the capacity to sort out from each other right now telling him that there was a warm, naked, _hot_ troll writhing in his lap, and _what are you doing just sitting around you pailslurping pan-addled bulgemunch?_ He averted his gaze and bit down on his lip, hands coming up to rest on the other’s hips. 

The Gemini stilled at that, and a thin-fingered hand cupped the side of Karkat’s face, turning him back to meet the hacker’s gaze, “KK, if you want me to thtop…” he looked almost pained at that, “I can jutht give you the pail and you can… KK, do you want to thtop?”

The redblood swallowed thickly, licking his lips. His hands were shaking a little, “…N-NO I… DON’T…” he licked his lips again, gaze darting about as if he could find his ability to form a coherent sentence just lying about. With a huff he impulsively surged forward, pressing their mouths together in a sloppy kiss. 

The yellowblood made a noise and adjusted the angle, pressing the smaller troll back to be pinned between the wall and bared flesh again. A hand wormed between them, tugging urgently at the last layers of fabric that separated them, and this time Karkat didn’t swat him away, lifting his hips and kicking slightly to help in the divulgence of his clothing, then again to press into that tantalizing heat just above him. A bulge twined with his, pressed between their stomachs, and he warbled un-self-consciously, breaking off the kiss and pressing his claws into the yellowblood’s flanks. Sollux hissed, head bowing to lick and suck gently where before he’d bit and bruised, and the redblood tilted his head to allow better access. The psionic shifted over him slightly, and moaned quietly as something moved against the entrance of the smaller troll’s nook, pressing slowly in. 

Karkat gasped sharply, bucking up into the slick grip of one bulge and down onto the other and the closest thing to a complete sentence he could form was _‘the rumors are true.’_

He must have said it aloud, because Sollux leaned back, gaze turned downwards with a smirk that, combined with that amber flush, just looked _hot as fuck_. The Cancer followed his gaze to where they were joined, watching as the psionic took their twined bulges in hand and coaxed them apart. Karkat whined at the loss, the sound turning into a whimper when the hacker deftly gave the redblood’s bulge a squeeze and shifted his hips to bring it closer to his honey-yellow tinged nook. 

“C’mon KK… oh fuck, pleathe, god…” Sollux was breathing a litany of pleas and demands, the sounds fading into a moan when the shorter troll’s bulge began to press inside to tight wet heat, a thin amber bulge curled around the base. The redblood managed to look away from their joining in time to see the taller troll tip his head back, mouth opening and chest heaving with each pant for air, and a portion of Karkat’s thinkpan that wasn’t drowned in the onslaught of overwhelming pleasure whispered _beautiful._

He raised his hands to curve around the too-thin waist and pulled the yellowblood in again, pressing kisses to the other troll’s upper chest and shoulders and neck until his face was brought up by a delicate hand and an open mouth pressed over his own again. They weren’t so much kissing as they were using tongue and mouth to imitate the act going on below the waist, panting and moaning and whimpering and cursing into each other’s airspace until no one was really sure who said what or made which noise. Spoiler: Neither really cared. Lithe hips rolled and pressed down as the redblood jerked up against him, ricocheting between the pressure clamped around his bulge and the writhing, amazing, stretching fullness of his nook. He was pretty sure he’d never be able to go back to his hand after this, he couldn’t even fathom the thought, and he clung tighter to the lanky troll in his lap because he never wanted this to end; at the same time, the pressure building low in his stomach with every writhe of Sollux’s bulge deep in his nook was driving him to new heights of sensation, and his own bulge thrashed that much more erratically as his climax built. His own panting and warbling and moaning was loud to his ears compared to the yellowblood’s quieter gasps and groans; it seemed like everyone on the asteroid should be able to hear him, and somehow that just made him whine all the louder, head tilting back against the wall as the psionic’s face pressed into the space where his shoulder and neck met, hands digging into the redblood’s sides.

“SOLLUX… FUCK, SOLLUX, BUCKET…!” His voice came as a whine, body squirming in urgency. The yellowblood made an indistinct noise against his shoulder and shifted backward. Karkat followed, and with some uncoordinated maneuvering they crawled up to their knees, a bucket pulled from the hacker’s sylladex cradled between their thighs. Arms entwined firmly around eachother, stroking at any flesh they could reach, the pair murmured quiet encouragements and declarations of pity to eachother in between pants for air and chirps and moans.

There were a few, breathless moments where it seemed like time had stopped, nothing existed except for the hot, slick, slide of flesh on flesh, the soft gasps against his collarbone, the heaviness of his lower abdomen, the pleasure hovering at the very edge before it spilled over. A sharp cry tore itself from Karkat’s throat, his claws burying themselves into Sollux’s lower back as he pulled the yellowblood’s hips flush to his own; his vision went white, back arching as he released. Sollux groaned, loudly, his hips jerking twice in quick succession before the Cancer felt his genetic material spill, adding to what his body had already built up. The two slumped against eachother, panting loudly into the quiet of the room, bulges writhing lazily for a moment before retreating back to their respective sheaths. A torrent of stored up genetic material followed Sollux’s retreating bulge, ringing against the metal pail erotically and making the redblood shiver and rut his bone bulge against his partner’s. The psionic gasped and returned the action, his own material joining Karkat’s. Their mouths found eachother, swapping small, chaste kisses, and when both had emptied their genetic material sacs, they maneuvered around the pail to collapse in a tangled heap across the pile they’d started in.


	5. Chapter 5

Karkat’s eyes snapped open with a start, the images from whatever dream (nightmare? Dream bubble?) dispersing like wisps of smoke before his conscious mind could grasp and recognize them. He couldn’t really mind; the problem was that he’d fallen asleep in the first place. He hadn’t meant to, in fact he vaguely recalled scowling at Sollux after the yellowblood had fallen asleep (he didn’t have the heart to wake him up again; he consoled himself by saying he didn’t want to risk a psionic blast to the face.)— _shit, wait, where is that bulgemunch?_

Carefully, fully aware of the sore, sticky, stiff feeling that seemed to radiate out from his groin and extend into his hips and back, he pushed himself up to look around. Sure enough, the yellowblood was nowhere to be found. Karkat’s clothes were piled haphazardly a few steps from the pile, crowned with the button off his pants, detached from the clothing item it belonged to, and he swore. Shuffling off the pile and into an upright position that his hips weren’t happy to accommodate but _fuck that noise I am not lounging about in that pile forever_ , he peered under the blanket that he’d dragged with, making a face at the smears of red and yellow and intermingled orange that decorated his grey skin, a few drops sliding lewdly down his inner thighs now that he was standing. He tried rubbing at some of it with the blanket and finally gave up; a bath would be in order, and that’s all there is to it. So he gathered up his pile of clothes to store in his sylladex and, still wound in the blanket, made his way into the main hallway to find an ablution chamber.

A few false starts and he happened upon a door that wouldn’t budge, the sounds of water muffled behind it. _Of course_. He shifted uncomfortably and cursed his past self – _again_ – for falling asleep without at least trying to clean himself up. Another slimy-cold drop of something he was resolutely not thinking about trekked across his skin and he pressed his thighs together to ward off the sensation. _All right that pail-licking nookwhiffer has been in there long enough_. He disregarded that it probably had not been that long at all and pounded on the door, “HURRY THE FUCK UP ALREADY, YOU INCONSIDERATE GRUBHUMPING BASTARD.”

“Go uthe your own chamber.” Came the mildly annoyed response.

Karkat looked down at himself, the faded blue blanket draped around him with—was that a grubsauce stain on the edge? He was going to choose to believe that that was a grubsauce stain. And the leader of this rag-tag group should not be caught wandering the halls in a grubsauce-stained blanket. It was just _un-leaderly_.

Karkat spent a few moments trying to decide if he wanted to continue wearing the blanket smeared in remnants of their previous activities. Leaders probably didn’t go about naked and smelling of sex either.

He knocked on the door again, “…ARE YOU AT LEAST ALMOST DONE?”

The blanket-clad troll thought he could hear a heavy sigh (and he was almost certain he could imagine the rolling eyes), as the door lock clicked, “Jutht get in here.”

He hesitated before pushing the door open, peering inside carefully, “UH, ARE YOU—“ He slowly took in the naked troll reclined back in the tub. The mutantblood fixed his gaze firmly on the yellowblood’s face, fighting the urge to look lower, fighting down a blush, “…YOU’RE NAKED.”

“Thurprithe. I don’t wear clotheth in the bath.” An eyebrow was raised above a solid blue eye, expression bored. 

Karkat scowled at him, then averted his eyes, “LOOK I JUST WANT TO RINSE OFF AND THEN I’LL JUST BE ON MY FUCKING WAY SO—WHAT ARE YOU DOING, STOP IT!” His gaze turned back, growling as he gripped the blanket tighter around himself against the red and blue sparks that tugged at the edges.

Sollux snickered, “Well, get over here, then. What, are you embarrathhed? After yesterday?” 

That smug grin was doing strange things to the mutantblood’s mind; he shed the blanket and stomped towards the tub before he could really process his actions. Unfortunately, he’d caught up by the time he reached the edge of the tub, and there he hesitated, shyly covering himself, but he’d already come too far, “…MOVE OVER, ASSHOLE. AND STOP _LOOKING_ AT ME.”

The yellowblood laughed and graciously drew his slim legs closer to his chest to make room. His eyelids drooped lazily, but he didn’t turn away and it was hard to tell where he was looking with those pupil-less eyes. With a huff, the mutantblood joined him, keeping to the far side of the tub and resolutely not paying attention to the other troll, already working over his skin with a soaped cloth. 

Several minutes passed in relative silence, neither acknowledging the other as the redblood washed and the yellowblood…. just sat back on his end of the tub. Karkat shot a glare at him, “YOU’RE NOT EVEN FUCKING WASHING.” He kicked at the lanky troll’s shins in annoyance.

The psionic grinned and caught Karkat’s foot between his legs, bringing a hand to hold on when the smaller troll jerked back with a snarl, “It’th my ablution chamber that you tho rudely barged in to, KK. I can do whatever I want.” His fingers were massaging lightly at Karkat’s calf muscle, keeping the limb trapped. The mutantblood snarled, flashing his fangs, and turned back to his washing, ignoring the thin fingers that wandered along his calf as he studiously studied the wall. Boy, washing oneself really takes a lot of concentration!

He continued ignoring the other troll when the water sloshed a little, the grip on his foot changed, and hands brushed his knees. He growled a warning when the yellowblood’s touch moved higher, and the hands retreated to brush his calf again, and then disappeared, water splashing as the psionic repositioned again. Karkat relaxed marginally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Um. Confession time: It's come to my realization (after poking through everything I've ever written previously) that I've never written explicit smut before.  
> Huh. Guess I'll have to fix that.


	6. Chapter 6

A quiet snicker was the only warning Karkat got before red and blue crackled around him, lifting him up out of the water. The smaller troll shouted in surprise, limbs automatically flailing for something to grab, and then was just as quickly deposited back down into the water and onto Sollux’s lap, face to face.

“WHAT THE EVERPITYING FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!” Karkat moved to push away, hands finding purchase on the yellowblood’s shoulders; his struggles ceased when that double set of horns started crackling with more psionic energy.

“I think you mithhed a thpot.” Sollux’s smirk could be described as nothing other than _shit-eating,_ and the mutantblood took a breath to snap back that _I’m not done yet!_ Instead of words, he managed an embarrassingly high-pitched noise as a palm deftly cupped his groin, fingers pressing up on his nook. 

It took him a moment of processing before he managed to gather his mental faculties enough to push the hand away, face heated, snapping, “I REPEAT. WHAT. THE EVERPITYING. MOTHER GRUB MOLESTING. ACTUAL. FUCK. ARE YOU _DOING_?!”

“What do you think I’m doing?” the hands settled on Karkat’s thighs instead, right on that edge between innocent and intimate. 

He declined to answer, instead bracing his hands on the sides of the tub to get up. Sollux looped an arm around Karkat’s waist and pulled them chest to chest, and was met with a hot blush and profuse swearing. 

Teasingly papping a red-tinted cheek, Sollux snickered, “Wath it really that terrible, KK, or are you jutht trying to thave face? Little late to be getting all embarrathhed over it.”

Huffing, Karkat stopped fighting to get away, just lying stiffly where he’d been placed, “WE’RE NOT EVEN FUCKING QUADRANTED, AND THAT WAS—YOU BLACKMAILED ME.”

That got him released, and he sat back, arms crossed, as the troll under him leaned against the side of the tub, eyebrows raised incredulously, “I... blackmailed you.” The hint of uncertainty in his voice stabbed at Karkat’s bloodpusher, “Tho you didn’t actually _want_ to pail and did anyway. Becauthe… becauthe why? What did you think I’d do, pin you down and force you if you thaid ‘thtop?’”

Karkat flushed guiltily and looked away. “I DIDN’T FUCKING SAY THAT, NOOKWHIFFER, I JUST—I don’t—“ He bit his lip, taking a moment to gather his thoughts, but didn’t get a chance as Sollux abruptly stood, pushing him backward into the water.

“Fine, I’m _tho thorry_ for taking advantage of you. I’ll jutht leave you alone and you can find your own way out.” 

“SOLLUX, YOU OVERDRAMATIC GRUB, WAIT—“ But the lanky troll was out the door and ignoring him before he could finish. Karkat cursed and scowled after him, grumbling, “Fine, just run off like a stupid wiggler then.” Petulantly, he returned to his ablutions in the cooling water, cursing under his breath.

~

Dressed and running his claws through damp hair in a futile attempt to tame it, Karkat leaned over the wash basin to glower at himself in the mirror. After putting some thought into it, he supposed he did harbor some… _reddish_ feelings towards the infuriating nooksniffer. (And black, and sometimes a bit pale – it was all pretty mixed up, if he was honest with himself. It’s not like it _mattered,_ there’s no way that asshole would return the sentiment anyway.) Their earlier pailing might have been done somewhat under duress, but… _It’s not like you didn’t enjoy it, but as always, Past Karkat had to be an enormous bulgebiting moron and fuck up everything._

Karkat growled at his reflection, claws scraping harshly against the metal of the basin. _Past Karkat fucked this all up and now I get to clean up the hoofbeast shit after the whirling device scattered it all over the fucking place. As if I expected any less_. With one last sneer at himself he marched out of the ablution chamber and found his way back to Sollux’s respite block, hesitating at the door briefly; scraping together his courage, he banged on the door.

“Fuck off.”

Ignoring the muffled response, Karkat shoved the door open and strolled in, frowning at the yellowblood. Sollux was seated on the floor, facing away from him and tapping away at his husktop.

“TRY NOT STORMING OFF LIKE A LITTLE WIGGLER NEXT TIME, ASSHOLE.” The other troll didn’t seem to pay him any mind, but Karkat kept on anyway, “IF I DIDN’T WANT TO PAIL YOU—“ _don’tblushdon’tblushdon’tblush_ , “DO YOU REALLY THINK I’D JUST SIT THERE AND _LET_ YOU? I WAS – I FIGURED IT WAS JUST A ONE-OFF THING, AND AFTERWARD WE’D JUST SWEAR TO NEVER FUCKING SPEAK OF IT LIKE ALWAYS AND—“ _Why are you fucking blushing?!_ “I GUESS… ARE WE STILL FRIENDS OR…” He swallowed and licked his lips, averting his gaze.

Silence stretched between them. Sollux had gone still, but was still facing away and not giving any clue to what was going through his mind. 

Karkat had never been a fan of awkward silences. “SAY SOMETHING YOU GRUBFISTED MORON--!”

“Will you thtop fucking thcreaming, KK? God, you’re tho loud, I bet the entire meteor jutht got a front row theat to that embarrathhment.” 

He cut off mid-rant, mouth snapping shut with an audible click.

Tilting his head slightly, Sollux looked at the smaller troll from the corner of his eye, frowning. “Did you mean it?”

Karkat mentally went over what had been said, and finally decided that the question meant _‘Did you want to pail me?’_ Flustered, he hunched his shoulders, refusing to meet Sollux’s dual-toned gaze as he replied, “I ALREADY TOLD YOU, NOOKMUNCH, IF I DIDN’T—I MEAN—I WASN’T EXACTLY UNWILLING, OKAY, BUT YOU WOULDN’T GIVE ME THE STUPID B-BUCKET AND I—“

“Thorry.” Sollux was looking away again, staring at his husktop. “It wath thupid, I know what it’s like to be full like that I jutht…” He scrubbed at the back of his head and shrugged, letting his statement die there.

Another awkward silence settled between them, Karkat shifting from one foot to the other as he tried to figure out where to go from there. Finally, quietly, he repeated, “…Are we still friends?”

Sollux said nothing, and every moment that passed without a word left Karkat’s chest feeling tighter with nerves. Just as he was about to speak up again, Sollux finally shifted minutely and responded, “I don’t think I want to be friendth anymore.”


	7. Chapter 7

Karkat jerked as if the words had been a physical slap, eyes widening with hurt and confusion. The prickle of wetness at the corner of his eyes annoyed him and, angrily swiping a hand across his face, he snapped, “FINE. I’M SICK OF PUTTING UP WITH YOUR MOODY HOOFBEAST SHIT ALL THE TIME ANYWAY. YOU’RE AN UNGRATEFUL ASSHOLE, SOLLUX, I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHY WE WERE EVER FRIENDS—“

“Look who’th being the overdramatic wiggler now.” 

“WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO, BEG FOR YOUR SORRY ASS? _HELL FUCKING NO._ ”

“ _Karkat_.” It was so rare to hear his full name in Sollux’s voice that Karkat shut up instantly. “Thit down and thut up already you fucking wiggler.” Sollux glared out the side of his glasses briefly before turning away again, “Doeth everything need to be such a federal fucking ithhue with you or what? I said I don’t want to be your friend, not ‘pleathe flip off the fucking handle tho hard that you give yourthelf a ragegathm.’”

“WELL EXCUSE ME FOR GIVING HALF A SHIT, THEN. GIVE ME A MINUTE AND I’LL PERFORM THE MOST STELLAR IMPRESSION EVER OF SOMEONE WHO GIVES NO SHITS. I WILL GIVE AN INVERSE NUMBER OF SHITS, EVEN. JUST GET TO THE POINT ALREADY, SOMETIME BEFORE I CULL MYSELF FROM THE SUSPENSE. WHAT PAN-NUMBINGLY STUPID THING COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE TO SAY?”

Sollux was massaging his temple now, a heavy sigh of annoyance on his lips, “No, you know what, fuck you. I don’t want to be within the thame room when you blow a gathket.” He waved a hand dismissively, mumbling something under his breath, and went back to tapping at his computer.

Karkat bared his teeth and stomped further into the room and around the other troll until he could properly glare down at the back of Sollux’s bowed head. He sucked in a breath to shout and Sollux made a frustrated noise, snapping, “Fine, whatever, if you’re going to be thuch a wiggler about it then we can thtill be friendth. Jutht get out of my block, KK. You thaid it wath a one-time thing and we wouldn’t talk about it.”

“WHAT? THAT’S – WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT HOW MUCH OF A NOOKSTUFFING ASSHOLE YOU ARE!”

A small nasal laugh erupted from somewhere behind Sollux’s bangs, “I didn’t hear you complaining about my ‘nookthtuffing’ latht night.”

Karkat’s face heated up. “ _WE. ARE NOT. TALKING ABOUT THAT._ ARE THOSE AURICLE SPONGE CLOTS JUST FOR DECORATION? OR MAYBE IT’S JUST A BIG EMPTY SPACE IN BETWEEN THEM, AS VAST AND OPEN AS THIS DAMNED RING WE’RE FLOATING THROUGH FOR UNCOUNTABLE EONS, AND JUST AS DEAD AND DESOLATE. EVERYTHING ANYONE EVER SAYS JUST GETS LOST SOMEWHERE IN THAT ASTRONOMICAL VOID YOU STRUT AROUND PRETENDING IS A SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE SUBSTITUTE FOR A THINK PAN!” The yellowblood still hadn’t looked up from his damned husktop, and Karkat kicked it aside with his foot in a burst of annoyance, “WHY WON’T YOU FUCKING LOOK AT ME?”

Red and blue psionics caught the husktop and tucked it away somewhere into Sollux’s sylladex before the innocent electronic could be further abused, but he still didn’t look up. Karkat dropped down onto his knees, trying to force himself into the other’s line of sight, “SOLLUX, DAMNIT—“

A thin hand shot out, twisted up the grey symbol emblazoned on his sweater, and pulled. Sollux had a smirk curling the corners of his mouth, teeth flashing inches in front of Karkat’s face. Karkat opened his mouth, and any train of thought he’d had was derailed by the bite to his lower lip; Sollux released the smaller troll’s lip and swiped his tongue over it before pulling back. “It theemth like you’re the one with hearing problemth, KK. Didn’t I tell you to leave?” His smirk went up a degree in smugness. “Maybe you’re thtill waiting around for round two?”

“I- I’M NOT PLAYING INTO YOUR MESSED UP KINK FOR TWOS, YOU SMARMY DOUCHEBAG, I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM IS!”

“My ‘fucking problem’ is _you_.” Sollux shoved him away with a snort, “You come in here practically begging to get pailed and now you jutht want to walk back out and be ‘ _friends_ ’ and act like it never happened. You know you’ll jutht come crawling back for more next time.” The lanky troll crossed his arms and snickered at Karkat’s spluttering. “Don’t try to deny it. It’th not like you’ll go to anyone elthe now that I know your little thecret. And then we’ll jutht have to go through all this bullthit all over again, because you’re too much of a fucking wiggler to deal with a little cathual pailing. Tho, I’m jutht thaving mythelf a headache.”

Karkat started to growl at the other troll, ready to just stomp out of the block and never come back just to prove him wrong, but something made him pause. “YOU’RE SAYING I’LL BE THE ONE BEGGING BUT YOU’RE THE ONE WHO CAN’T KEEP FROM MOLESTING ME AT EVERY TURN. I’M PRETTY FUCKING SURE THAT TRANSCENDS ‘A LITTLE CASUAL PAILING.’” He paused, narrowing his eyes. “ARE YOU—ARE YOU TRYING TO COME ON TO ME? IS THAT WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE? THIS IS THE SHITTIEST EXAMPLE OF BLACK FLIRTING EVER, SOLLUX. I’M ASHAMED TO EVEN BE IN THE SAME ROOM, MUCH LESS TO BE THE ONE IT’S DIRECTED AT. MY SHAME IS SO GREAT, IT’S PROBABLY SWEPT OUT AND GRIPPED EVERYONE ELSE ON THIS METEOR BY NOW. THEY’RE JUST SITTING AROUND STIMULATING THEIR SHAME GLOBES AND MINDING THEIR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS WHEN SUDDENLY THEY’RE OVERTAKEN WITH AN OVERWHELMING DESIRE TO CULL THEMSELVES, THE SHAME IS SO ALL-ENCOMPASSING, AND THEY WILL NEVER KNOW WHERE IT CAME FROM. IS THAT YOUR GOAL, FUCKASS? IF THAT’S WHAT YOU WERE AIMING FOR, WELL, JOB WELL DONE, CONGRATU-FUCKING-LATIONS, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. EVERYONE CAN GO HOME NOW, SOLLUX HAS, SOMEHOW, BEAT OUT ALL THE NUB-SUCKLING WIGGLERS THAT HE WAS COMPETING AGAINST IN THIS CONTEST OF WHO CAN BE THE MOST EMBARRASSING TROLL IN THE UNIVERSE AND _WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP_. PRAISE TO GAMZEE’S STUPID CLOWN GODS, WE’RE ALL SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE SUCH A CHAMPION IN OUR MIDST. PLEASE, LET ME JUST BEND OVER AND PRESENT MY NOOK TO YOU IN SACRIFICE, O GREAT ONE, AND ALL I ASK IS THAT YOU SPARE ME THE SHAME THAT IS YOUR ATTEMPT AT BLACK FLIRTING.”

Sollux stretched his legs out and leaned back on his hands, slowly raising an eyebrow and waiting for the yelling to quiet down. “Let’th hear more about the part where you’re bending over, KK. I think that wath my favorite.”

Karkat threw his hands up and made a disgusted noise. Shoving himself up to his feet he stomped towards the door. “I’M DONE. I’M JUST FUCKING DONE. I’M GOING TO LEAVE, AND I’M GOING TO PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED, AND WHENEVER YOU’VE DECIDED TO LIFT YOUR FACE AWAY FROM YOUR OWN BULGE AND TAKE A BREAK FROM AUTO-FELLATING YOURSELF, FEEL FREE TO CRAWL OUT OF THE DANK CAVERNS YOU CALL A LIVING SPACE AND TRY TALKING TO ME LIKE A REASONABLE FUCKING TROLL.”

The smaller troll was nearly to the door before Sollux piped up, “You’re the only one that thought this wath pitch, you know.”

Karkat paused. “… YOU CALL THAT FLUSHED FLIRTING? NOW I’M AT LEAST THREE TIMES AS ASHAMED. THAT JUST MADE THIS ALL BETTER.” But he didn’t continue out the door; he hesitated there, uncertain, and finally turned around again. “YOU’RE FLUSHED. FOR ME.” Sollux just shrugged, watching the far wall. Karkat was really getting tired of staring at the back of his head. 

“Maybe.”

“WHY?”

“…Come back over here, KK.”

“ _WHY?_ ”

That made the lanky troll turn his head, an eyebrow cocked. He looked Karkat over appraisingly, shrugged again, and turned away. Karkat yelped and automatically struggled as red and blue bolts of energy lifted him off the ground and floated him across the room, back into the psionic’s lap. 

He shifted, draping his legs over a thigh and leaning back against the opposite leg to hiss up at the taller troll, “HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT THAT I AM PERFECTLY FUCKING CAPABLE OF WALKING OVER HERE ON MY OWN, OR THAT AT THE VERY LEAST YOU SHOULD _FUCKING WARN ME_ BEFORE USING YOUR FREAKY BRAIN POWERS ON ME, BULGELICKER?!”

“I like your panicked face. It’s cute.” Sollux snickered at him.

Growling, he snapped, “I’M NOT _CUTE _. AND I HATE YOU. _PLATONICALLY._ ”__

__“Pity you.”_ _

__Karkat eyed the troll under him suspiciously a moment, trying to gauge his sincerity. When Sollux just stared back, expression infuriatingly neutral despite the honey-tint to his cheeks, Karkat huffed at him, leaning on the thin chest and crossing his arms to hide his own quickly coloring cheeks as he mumbled, “…Pity you too. Asshole.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tons of thanks to my lovely beta [Trombonesonmars](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Trombonesonmars/pseuds/Trombonesonmars) for helping me out!
> 
> As always, feedback is greatly appreciated!


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